No World of Their Own by Poul Anderson

Author:Poul Anderson [Anderson, Poul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781504024433
Publisher: Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

X

Three might be eyes as well as ears in the walls. Langley went to bed shortly after sunset. Spy-beams went right through the communicator, Valti had said, but he wore his pajamas anyway. He lay for an hour, threshing about as if unable to get to sleep. Then he commanded loud music. The recorded caterwauling should drown out a low-pitched conversation.

He hoped the stomach-knotting tension in him didn’t show on his face.

Scratching, as if after an itch, he pressed the stud. Then he struck a cigarette and lay waiting.

The tiny voice was a vibration inside him. He thought about sonic beams heterodyned and focused on his skull-hones. It was distorted, but he’d know Valti’s phrasing anywhere:

“Ah, Captain Langley. You do me an unprecedented honor. It is a pleasure even to be routed out of a snug bed to hear you. May I advise that you speak with your lips closed? The transmission will be clear enough.”

“All right.” There was one hopeless question which had to be asked. “I’m prepared to bargain with you—but do you have Blaustein and Matsumoto?”

“I do not, Captain. Will you take my word for that?”

“I … reckon so. Okay. I’ll tell you where I think Saris is—mind you, it’s only an informed guess—and I’ll help you find him if possible. In return, I want your best efforts to rescue my friends, together with the money, protection, and transportation you offered, both for’ myself and one other person, a slave girl who’s in this apartment with me.”

It was hard to make out whether the exultation which must be leaping through that gross form had entered the voice: “Very good, Captain. I assure you, you will not regret this. Now as to practical considerations, you must be removed without trace.”

“I’m not sure just how that little thing’s going to be done, Valti. I think I’m more or less under house arrest.”

“Nevertheless, you shall get out tonight. Let me think … In two hours, you and the girl will stroll out onto the balcony. For Father’s sake, make it look natural! Remain there, in plain sight from above, no matter what happens.”

“Okay. Two hours—2347 by my clock, right? See you!”

Now he had to wait. Langley got out another cigarette and lay as if listening to the music. Two hours! I’ll be one gray-haired wreck before then.

Time crawled, it took forever to get by a minute. Langley swore, went into the living room, and dialed for a book. Basic modern physics. At the rate time was going, two hours would be enough to get a Ph.D. He grew suddenly aware that he had been staring at the same scanned page for fifteen minutes. Hastily he dialed the next. Even if it wasn’t registering, he ought to look as if it were.

He looked at the clock and felt his belly muscles tighten. Twenty minutes to go.

He had to get Marin outside. He couldn’t leave her in this hellhole, and he had to do it in a way that the observers would consider unremarkable.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.